Should you stay or should you go? A classic startup dilemma

Your startup company is growing and you’re ready to take it to the next level; part of that involves securing more funding by seeking investors outside of Canada. U.S. and international venture capital firms are ready to step up with the funds to help you develop and commercialize your product, but there’s a catch: they want you to relocate to where they are. Should you move your operations to where the money is?

Waterloo, Ontario-based medical technology company Intellijoint Surgical Inc. is currently grappling with this question. Dr. Hamid Akbari, a strategic management researcher at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) offered Intellijoint some guidance in an article published in the small business section of the Globe and Mail.

Dr. Akbari’s advice: incorporate a company or register a subsidiary in the U.S. and open an office there, while still maintaining a significant part of the operation in Canada.

His recommendation is based on his experience as Chief Executive Officer and Founder of BlancLink, a startup that launched carpooling app BlancRide in 2014.

“My company is also opening a New York office for the same reason–we are raising another round of funding and some of our investors will be able to help us further grow our sales in the U.S.,” writes Dr. Akbari, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business and Information Technology. “In our case, we agreed to open our office in New York, instead of Silicon Valley, so that we operate in the same time zone as Toronto.”

Read the full article on The Globe and Mail website.